Scavenging downed timber - is it ok where you live?

I've a ROW on my land about 100 yards behind my house in NE Mississippi. My land on either side of it was logged in August 2011. Since then I have been bothered by ATV drivers using the ROW as a race track. Usually I'd step out on the porch and fire the 12 gauge and it would diminish for several days. The main problem is they have destroyed the vegetative cover and I'm getting some deep gullies.

But sometimes it's been guys driving up, then driving on to my land and "harvesting" some of the leftover downed timber that the lumber company left. Presumably for firewood. I'm not talking stems and twigs, I'm talking 18" diameter wood. Again the ruts grow deeper.

When I complained to my wife (a Mississippi lawyer) she told me it was ok for people to go and harvest downed timber. I had never heard of this practice. But since I have a little sawmill I'm wondering if this practice is generally acceptable.

Note in Mississippi

Mississippi has a law on the books that automatically posts all private land as off limits to trespassers or others without permission to be on someones property.

Re: Scavenging downed timber - is it ok where you live?

Never heard of people being allowed to enter private property and collect down wood without permission. That would be trespassing here. What type of ROW do you have going through your place. We have a power easement and they are fine with us putting up fencing and a gate as long as they have access.

Re: Scavenging downed timber - is it ok where you live?

Originally Posted by dodge man

Its not O.K. in my area unless you ask the person. Maybe if the tree fell and was lying in a traveled public roadway.

Same here. I would contact the owner of the ROW to complain about the trespassers and request that they secure their ROW. I would also make sure that your land is posted at each end of the ROW and on each side of the ROW so that the trespassers have no excuse (in NY, IIRC you wont generally be charged until the 2nd offense if the property isn't posted as you could think that you have permission when you dont). I might also ask your local law enforcement (or better, either a state Forester, or a Fish and Game officer) about trespassing to steal timber being allowed. They may be able to pass through to check on things and if not, (assuming that you have enough time) you might sit out there quietly and wait for someone to show up, then call the cops when they do.

Aaron Z

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
— Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

Re: Scavenging downed timber - is it ok where you live?

I am little confused, could someone explain to me what a ROW is? I was under the impression that they were technically part of YOUR property and you had to maintain them, but the power company or whatever just had the right to use them for access. This is of interest to me because they recently built a lot of wind generators around me and I see a lot of access roads cut through the corn fields around me and have always wondered what kind of deal they work out with the farmers.

I have also heard that (I know it sounds strange, but maybe it's true) that after a certain number of years if you are maintaining property (like utility company-owned property) then you can claim ownership to it. It sounded a little far out there for me to believe, but since we are on the subject I thought maybe someone else had heard of that.

Re: Scavenging downed timber - is it ok where you live?

I am little confused, could someone explain to me what a ROW is? I was under the impression that they were technically part of YOUR property and you had to maintain them, but the power company or whatever just had the right to use them for access. This is of interest to me because they recently built a lot of wind generators around me and I see a lot of access roads cut through the corn fields around me and have always wondered what kind of deal they work out with the farmers.

I have also heard that (I know it sounds strange, but maybe it's true) that after a certain number of years if you are maintaining property (like utility company-owned property) then you can claim ownership to it. It sounded a little far out there for me to believe, but since we are on the subject I thought maybe someone else had heard of that.

I am little confused, could someone explain to me what a ROW is? I was under the impression that they were technically part of YOUR property and you had to maintain them, but the power company or whatever just had the right to use them for access. This is of interest to me because they recently built a lot of wind generators around me and I see a lot of access roads cut through the corn fields around me and have always wondered what kind of deal they work out with the farmers.

I have also heard that (I know it sounds strange, but maybe it's true) that after a certain number of years if you are maintaining property (like utility company-owned property) then you can claim ownership to it. It sounded a little far out there for me to believe, but since we are on the subject I thought maybe someone else had heard of that.